The Elizabeth Effect

The presidential race has no shortage of fascinating First Lady contenders—Michelle Obama, Cindy McCain, Judith Giuliani—but the biggest impact so far has been made by John Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth, who announced in March that the cancer for which she was treated in 2004 had returned and was incurable. In talking frankly and simply about her illness, “what she did is an open invitation for all politicians to shed the campaign uniform and be more human and more raw,” says Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway. Edwards not only ensured that health care would be a front-and-center issue in 2008, she also made it a must for candidates to come clean about their own health; just weeks after her announcement, likely Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson declared that he suffers from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “I think the Edwardses were extraordinarily forthcoming, and the response to that was very positive,” says Democratic political consultant Dee Dee Myers. “The country went, Thank you for treating us like grown-ups.”